1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a half-fitting prevention connector which reliably prevents half-fitting by way of the resiliency of a resilient member attached to a housing of at least one of a pair of male and female connectors which are fittable to each other, and which reliably effects fitting and locking with the mating connector.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-162965, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A related example of a half-fitting prevention connector now will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9.
As shown in FIGS. 6 to 7, in a half-fitting prevention connector 51, half-fitting between a pair of male and female connectors 52 and 53 which are fittable to each other is prevented by the resiliency of a pair of compression coil springs 57 accommodated in spring accommodating portions 56 on both sides in an exclusive housing 55 provided integrally on a housing 54 of the male connector 52.
In addition, the male connector 52 has a lock arm 58 which has on a lower surface of its tip a retaining pawl 59 for retaining the mating female connector 53 and is supported at its rear end on the housing 54 so as to be flexible as a cantilever. Further, displacement preventing projections 60 are provided on an upper surface of the lock arm 58 on the opposite side to the side where the retaining pawl 59 is provided, and a lock peak 61 is provided on the upper surface of its root portion.
In addition, a slider 62 is slidably held in the exclusive housing 55. The slider 62 has a slider body 66 on which a slider arm 69 which is upwardly flexible by using a rear portion of the slider body 66 as a root is formed. A pair of abutment projections 70 are provided on the lower surface of a front end of the slider arm 69. Further, a pressing portion 72 which can be pressed in the rearward direction by an operator""s finger is provided on the upper surface of a rear end portion of the slider body 66.
Further, provided on an upper surface of a female housing 75 are an inclined projection 77 for retaining the retaining pawl 59 and a retaining groove 79 located immediately behind it, and a pair of stopper projections 78, which abut against the abutment projections 70 of the slider 62, are provided on the upper surface of the female housing 75.
In the half-fitting prevention connector 51 having the above-described construction, the male and female connectors 52 and 53 are made to face each other and are pressed in the fitting directions, as shown in FIG. 7. Then, since the stopper projections 78 on the female housing 75 abut against the abutment projections 70 of the slider 62, and the slider 62 is pushed in toward the rear of the exclusive housing 55 in the upper portion of the housing 54 while compressing the compression springs 57.
As a result, as the retaining pawl 59 rides over the inclined projection 77, the lock arm 58 is flexed upward, while the slider arm 69 is flexed upward by riding over the lock peak 61.
If the fitting forces of the male and female connectors 52 and 53 are canceled at this stage, the slider 62 is pushed back by the urging forces of the compression springs 57, so that the female connector 53 is pushed back by the abutment projections 70 and the stopper projections 78. Hence, the male and female connectors 52 and 53 are prevented from being left in a half-fitted state.
If the fitting operation is further advanced, as shown in FIG. 8, the slider arm 69 is flexed further upward by the lock peak 61 and the abutment projections 70 are disengaged from the stopper projections 78, with the result that the slider 62 is pushed back forwardly by the urging forces of the compression springs 57, and the front end of the pressing portion 72 abuts against the lock peak 61 and stops.
At this time, since the retaining pawl 59 is retained by the inclined projection 77 and the retaining groove 79, the flexion of the lock arm 58 also returns to its original state, and the displacement preventing portion 71 of the slider 62 which returned to its original state comes to be fitted over the displacement preventing projections 60 of the lock arm 58.
Next, to cancel the fitting between the male and female connectors 52 and 53, as shown in FIG. 9, the operator pulls the pressing portion 72 in the rearward direction while compressing the compression springs 57 while holding the housing 75. Consequently, the slider 62 retracts to allow the displacement preventing projections 60 to be canceled from the state of being locked by the displacement preventing portion 71, and since the abutment projections 70 ride over the stopper projections 78, the slider 69 begins to be flexed upward.
If the pressing portion 72 is further pulled, at the same time as the tip portion of the slider arm 69 rides over the lock peak 61, the retaining pawl 59 becomes unlocked from the inclined projection 77 since its rear surface is inclined, so that the fitting between the male and female connectors 52 and 53 can be canceled.
However, with the above-described half-fitting prevention connector 51, there has been a possibility that since the slider 62 is required, the number of component parts increases, and the number of assembling steps increases, leading to higher cost.
In addition, since when the pressing portion 72 is pulled backward during the releasing operation for the connectors, the pressing portion 72 must be pulled while compressing the compression springs, there has been a possibility that the operating efficiency during the releasing operation for the connectors is poor.
Furthermore; since resin members such as the lock arm 58 and the slider arm 69 are flexed greatly during the fitting and releasing operation of the connectors 52 and 53, there has been a possibility in the durability.
The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described possibilities of the related art, and its object is to provide a half-fitting prevention connector which has a small number of component parts, offers satisfactory operating efficiency during the releasing operation for the connectors, and excels in the durability with small flexion of resin members during the fitting and releasing operation.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a half-fitting prevention connector which comprises:
a first connector including a first housing;
a flexible lock arm formed on the first housing, the flexible lock arm having a first retaining portion and an abutment portion which is located at a lower side relative to the first retaining portion;
a second connector fittable to the first connector, the second connector including a second housing having a second retaining portion and a press plate;
a resilient member attachable to the second housing, the resilient member including:
a first bent portion which is formed into a substantially U-shape by bending a strip-shaped plate, and
a second bent portion, which continues from the first bent portion, and is formed into a substantially V-shape by bending the strip-shaped plate; and
a fixing mechanism, with which a rear portion of the resilient member is fixedly secured to the second housing,
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are about to be fitted to each other, the flexible lock arm is flexed by the press plate of the second housing pressing downward the first retaining portion, and the first retaining portion is slid on the press plate so that the abutment portion of the flexible lock arm is abutted against a tip of the first bent portion of the resilient member,
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are incompletely fitted, the first connector and the second connector are released in a direction opposite to a connector fitting direction in accordance with a resilient force of the resilient member, and
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are completely fitted to each other, the first retaining portion of the flexible lock arm is a retained by the second retaining portion of the second housing.
In accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, since a slider is not required, the number of component parts can be reduced, the structure is simplified, and the number of assembling steps can be reduced, thereby making it possible to lower the cost.
Furthermore, since the amount of the flexion of the lock arm during the fitting and releasing operation of the male and female connectors is small, and resin members other than the lock arm are not flexed, it is possible to improve the durability of the connector.
For example, when a compression spring is employed as the resilient member, since the compression spring is so arranged as not to be compressed during the unlocking operation, it is unnecessary to pull back the operating portion against the urging force of the compression spring during the releasing operation, so that it is possible to improve the operating efficiency during the releasing operation.
Furthermore, to achieve the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a half-fitting prevention connector which comprises:
a first connector including a first housing;
a flexible lock arm formed on the first housing, the flexible lock arm having a first retaining portion and an abutment portion which is located at a lower side relative to the first retaining portion;
a second connector fittable to the first connector, the second connector including a second housing having a second retaining portion, a press plate, and a second fixing portion; and
a resilient member attachable to the second housing, the resilient member including:
a first bent portion which is formed into a substantially U-shape by bending a strip-shaped plate,
a second bent portion, which continues from the first bent portion, and is formed into a substantially-shape by bending the strip-shaped plate, and
a first fixing portion, which is located at a rear portion of the resilient member, and is retained by the second fixing portion of the second housing,
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are about to be fitted to each other, the flexible lock arm is flexed by the press plate of the second housing pressing downward the first retaining portion, and the first retaining portion is slid on the press plated so that the abutment portion of the flexible lock arm is abutted against a tip of the first bent portion of the resilient member,
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are incompletely fitted, the first connector and the second connector are released in a direction opposite to a connector fitting direction in accordance with a resilient force of the resilient member, and
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are completely fitted to each other, the first retaining portion of the flexible lock arm is retained by the second retaining portion of the second housing.
In accordance with the second aspect of the present invention, since the resilient member is surely fixedly secured to the housing by the fixing portions as described above, the reliability of attachment of the resilient member can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to improve productivity.
Furthermore, to achieve the above object, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a half-fitting prevention connector which comprises:
a first connector including a first housing;
a flexible lock arm formed on the first housing, the flexible lock arm having a first retaining portion and an abutment portion which is located at a lower side relative to the first retaining portion;
a second connector fittable to the first connector, the second connector including a second housing having a second retaining. portion, a press plate, a fixing projection formed uprightly on the second housing, and a pressing piece formed uprightly on the second housing; and
a resilient member attachable to the second housing, the resilient member including:
a first bent portion which is formed into a substantially U-shape by bending a strip-shaped plate,
a second bent portion, which continues from the first bent portion, and is formed into a substantially V-shape by bending the strip-shaped plate,
a fixing hole, which is located at a rear portion of the resilient member, and is retained by the fixing projection of the second housing, and
a, fixing rolled portion, which is formed into a substantially roll shape by rolling the strip-shaped plate, and is located at the rear portion of the resilient member, the fixing rolled portion being retained by the pressing piece of the second housing,
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are about to be fitted to each other, the flexible lock arm is flexed by the press plate of the second housing pressing downward the first retaining portion, and the first retaining portion is slid on the press plate so that the abutment portion of the flexible lock arm is abutted against a tip of the first bent portion of the resilient member,
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are incompletely fitted, the first connector and the second connector are released in a direction opposite to a connector fitting direction in accordance with a resilient force of the resilient member, and
wherein when the first connector and the second connector are completely fitted to each other, the first retaining portion of the flexible lock arm is retained by the second retaining portion of the second housing.
In accordance with the third aspect of the present invention, the assembling operation at the time of attaching the resilient member to the housing can be facilitated. Further, since the resilient member is formed of a strip, the fixing hole and the fixing rolled portion can be provided integrally. Therefore, it is possible to improve productivity and attain a reduction in the cost.